Software Trumps Hardware

Let’s face it.
CrimeGuard is a video surveillance facial recognition system currently used by
3VR customers. It works with low-fidelity video images from multiple camera
sources and conventional surveillance networks.

When RCA introduced the tube camera way back when,
it was the introduction of hardware-based security video systems.

Today the floor of the
International Security Conference early next month in Las Vegas will still be full chock-a-block with cameras,
monitors, transmission hardware, digital video and network video recorders.

But software is now the king of video.

Driving the shift: software built into the cameras, DVRs,
NVRs and computer-dependent monitoring and command centers. Whether
intelligence will move to the edge or not, it is apparent from what is being
introduced at ISC that more software-based intelligence and software will be in
cameras, software-based compression and metadata schemes carrying more
intelligently-annotated images more quickly and – not surprisingly – video
analytics is the buzz phrase.

SOFTWARE EXPANDS USE OF SECURITY VIDEO BEYOND SECURITY

The charm is not just the
decision-making a video system can do but, with software more prominent,
security video more effortlessly integrates with other security and building
systems and expands into enterprise operation, business and financial systems.

Security Magazine has invited two experts to talk about
analytics advances and next generation compression/decompression. Michael
Rubinov of Nice Systems sees the intelligent security cycle as moving from
detect to verify to resolve to investigate to improvements. Then Mark Oliver at
Stretch will fill us in about the future compression developments, also driven
by software.

The first step of this cycle is to DETECT, in other words
acquire specific knowledge of an incident as it occurs. Consider the following.
A network of 3,000 city surveillance cameras, recording 24/7 might capture a
half-million hours of video footage each week, more than 2 million hours a
month. But in terms of detecting a specific threat, only two minutes of that
video would matter – not the other 1,999,999 hours and 58 minutes when the
cameras were watching while nothing happened. The problem is evident, human
beings aren’t wired to sit and stare at video screens for hours on end. Even
the most diligent operators will succumb to fatigue, boredom, distraction and
sensory overload.

PRE-SET ALGORITHMS INSIDE SOFTWARE

An intelligent video solution solves this problem by using
video analytics (pre-set algorithms built into the video surveillance system
software) to identify and detect specific threats, conditions or behaviors.
Special video analytics software monitors live video feed from cameras to
detect potential threats as they occur.

There are many forms of analytics. Some city centers are
using gunshot detection software coupled with video surveillance to identify
crimes in progress. For public utilities, intelligent video might show intruders
approaching a reservoir or power plant, allowing for the prevention of security
breaches before they happen. In the case of public safety and transportation
networks, intelligent video might be used to identify accidents or traffic
congestion so that emergency vehicles can be rapidly dispatched, investigations
initiated or traffic rerouted. Another application is license plate
recognition, which scans license plates to ferret out suspects with felony or
misdemeanor warrants, vehicles that are stolen or involved in Amber Alerts, and
even possible terrorist targets.

Intelligent video surveillance is also used for intrusion
detection, crowd control and perimeter protection and abandoned bag or package
detection and for many public buildings, office complexes, and school
districts. Advanced analytics may detect someone loitering outside an exit or a
car parked for too long.

The second step in the intelligent video security cycle is to
VERIFY.

The nature and
seriousness of an incident needs to be assessed instantly. In other words, how
real is the threat? Is it an impending disaster, or simply a false alarm? The
clock is ticking. If the control center operator waits too long to act, a
dangerous situation could escalate out of control. But making the wrong decision
based on misinformation could lead to serious consequences as well, such as
misallocated resources, a costly evacuation, widespread panic, a too little too
late response, or worse the loss of life.

Fortunately, intelligent video surveillance systems have
built in capabilities that can help the operator rapidly and accurately
evaluate a potential threat. When the system detects a threat and signals an
alarm it automatically displays relevant video footage. The operator can
instantly replay the video to review what just happened, while simultaneously
surveying live video from the same scene. Together, these two pieces of visual
information help the operator assess the nature and severity of the threat.

ALSO INSTANT COMMUNICATION TO OTHERS

Intelligent video surveillance technology accelerates and
improves the resolution of incidents in several ways. First, in addition to
alerting the control room operator of a threat, the system can immediately send
out an automatic notification up the chain of command or down through the
response organization.

Second, the system can incorporate relevant task lists based
on pre-defined response scenarios, so the control room operator immediately
knows what to do next. When a threat is detected, instructions specific to that
type of incident automatically pop up on the operator’s screen, directing what
steps to take, who to contact, and providing other essential data.

Third, the system ensures that first responders have access
to vital video information. The same on-scene video seen by the control room
operator can be streamed to mobile units or incident commanders in the field,
for viewing on a laptop, PDA or other handheld device.

INTELLIGENT HELP FOR FORENSICS

Now that the incident is over, the next step in intelligent
security cycle methodology is to INVESTIGATE. Today’s technology offers a way.
The same content analytics available for real-time threat detection can be
applied to the investigative process as well. Now investigators can perform
content-based video searches to quickly zero in on video that’s likely to be of
interest in an investigation. For example, an investigator might search for
video based on suspicious objects, movements, behaviors or events. Some systems
can detect faces in video recordings and then build a visual database, just
like a photo-album, to help police cull out suspects.

The intelligent video system also records every click of the
mouse and every camera viewed, providing a full investigation and review of how
security officers responded to an incident.

The final and arguably most important step in the video
security cycle is the ability to IMPROVE systems and operations in order to
reduce and/or prevent future incidents. Isn’t prevention the first step in the
cycle, you may ask? Yes, the various uses of video surveillance and other
visual technology by public and private entities are usually to prevent and
discourage crime by its very presence. It is also true that invaluable
information can be obtained and used to improve various situations for the
prevention of future crimes.

An overview taken from a recorded situation of any kind
becomes a tool to provide a bird’s eye view of overall security operations. For
example, by showing all events in time and space on a map, in other words
depicting the threat map (with the help of coloring in red areas with high
incident rate, in orange areas with medium incident rate, etc.) one can get an
idea of where and under what circumstances situations are most likely to occur.
Looking at it another way, it becomes a guide to discovering the weakest link
of the security operation and/or system that is in place.

Now with video data available to analyze each and every
situation or scenario, whether related
to criminal activities or poor operations, the proper preventative measures can
be instituted that will improve both systems and operations and ultimately
deter even the attempt of a criminal act, which brings the process full circle.

FUTURE COMPRESSION ADVANCES

IT advances are sweeping away coaxial wiring and VCR
recorders in favor of Ethernet connectivity and hard disk drive arrays. One
fundamental problem remains, however:
Video is BIG. A single frame of
standard definition (720x480) video has over 345,000 pixels per frame. Each
pixel requires Red, Green, and Blue values to describe its color, so
serializing the data for broadcast over an Ethernet network requires over 200
megabits per second of bandwidth. Using
one of the newer-generation high-resolution sensors can easily exceed the capabilities
of Gigabit Ethernet.

Clearly, some form of compression needs to be applied to the
video before transport to make it more manageable. This is the role of a video coder/decoder
(CODEC).

The increased compression efficiency can make bidirectionally
inter-coded schemes a viable option in digital video recorders at a monitoring
station. Examples of CODECs that use
this bidirectionally predicted scheme include MPEG2, MPEG4 Part 2 Advanced
Simple Profile, and H.264 Main Profile.

As designers plan for future generations of more intelligent
and high definition video surveillance systems, they face a difficult set of
challenges.

Advances made in video compression technologies will continue
to find a home in surveillance and they must be quickly embraced in an
increasingly competitive market environment if the product line is to remain
competitive. These new generations must
also retain backward compatibility with existing installations. A fragmented market rich in standards and
innovative approaches makes this a particularly difficult problem. Designers are increasingly turning to
software-defined approaches to retain the flexibility they need. Software configurable processors are leading
the way in supplying the compute power needed to fuel these approaches and give
designers the freedom to innovate. The
result of these advances will be a quantum leap in the feature sets and
performance available to chief security officers.

About the Sources
Security Magazine thanks Michael Rubinov of Nice Systems and
Mark Oliver at Stretch for their insights into the impact of software,
intelligence, analytics and improving compression/decompression in security
video systems.

Bridging the gap
to intelligence. Fusion firmware from Honeywell includes enhancements such as
fully integrated video and data analytics and expanded support for digital IP
video sources.

SIDEBAR: A Sunoco Solution

Bob Moraca, security director for Sunoco, is
advancing to more intelligence built into his security video system. Sunoco, a
Fortune 50 company, has locations spanning 28 states across the United States.
Along with several refineries and chemical plants, as well as thousands of
miles of pipeline, Sunoco boasts over 5,000 convenience stores and service
stations and employs over 10,000 people. Integrator Interface, working with
Sunoco, specified and installed a new digital video solution for their central
monitoring facility using a Rapid Eye DVR. The technology allows Sunoco to get
information more quickly, almost real-time, within minutes, so that they could
get information to the proper authorities. Operators can even communicate with
their employees and their customers at convenience stores, bringing control of
security to a new level. “We have the ability to look into the convenience
stores remotely from this central monitoring facility, see what’s going on and
over a two-way speaker system, actually interact with either customers or
employees,” stated Moraca. DVR makers are adding more software to bridge the
gap between analog, IP and intelligent video. The emphasis for security
managers now is on moving from legacy gear.

A vehicle is
equipped with a camera, a hardened computer and license recognition software.
Tampa Parking Division personnel can then search a daily-updated database.

SIDEBAR: License Plate Recognition at the City of Tampa Parking Division

As the third
most populous city in Florida, the City of Tampa
holds immense responsibility to protect and serve the thousands of motorists
who travel and park throughout the city streets daily. Specifically, it is the
Parking Division within the Department of Public Works that is primarily
responsible for overseeing the approximately 17,000 parking spaces. Parking
officers would spot check license plates by comparing information to a printed
manual of vehicles which held unpaid fines. Not only was this process tedious
and time consuming, the City of Tampa was not satisfied with the results. It
was at this point that the Parking Division of the Department of Public Works
turned to Genetec and its mobile License Plate Recognition (LPR) solution,
AutoVu, to fulfill their various objectives.

The solution required
equipping one of the Parking Division’s vehicles with ruggedized cameras and a
hardened PC running the application. This provided staff with an automatic
scofflaw detector. As the vehicle is driven within parking facilities or on the
streets of Tampa, the software detects and reads the license plates of parked
vehicles. Once plates are identified, the system checks for a match within an
onboard motorist database, which is automatically updated by Tampa Parking
Division’s central server. When a match is detected, the AutoVu interface
generates an alarm notifying the parking officer that a bootable vehicle has
been detected.

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